The government would on February 3 brainstorm with all states and Union territories (UTs) to review and rev up Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship sanitation programme.There would be a strict scrutiny of the status of toilet-building. Claims regarding open defecation-free villages woul

The government would on February 3 brainstorm with all states and Union territories (UTs) to review and rev up Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship sanitation programme.

There would be a strict scrutiny of the status of toilet-building. Claims regarding open defecation-free villages would be put to multi-layer verifications. India's mounting garbage crisis is also on the agenda.Health risks

About 95 lakh toilets have been constructed during the first year of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) that Modi launched in October 2014. The target is 6.84 crore new toilets in rural areas by 2019, and zero open defecation in India's 2.5 lakh gram panchayats comprising 6 lakh villages. Roughly half of India's population relieves itself outdoors - a serious risk to health.

Following reports of not much changing on the ground, PM Modi wants to reboot SBM and sought a revised action plan on all that needs to be done to realise his 'Clean India' dream by Oct 2, 2019. He has already received ideas from a group of secretaries after they were told 'enough is enough, and it is time for real action'.Renewed focus

Before meeting the PM, the group spoke to ministries, states, industry, civil society and local bodies. The renewed focus is on people's involvement, sustainability and time-bound results.

Drinking water and sanitation minister Chaudhary Birender Singh has written to all chief ministers, asking each of them to send in a minister and an officer who would represent them in the meeting that would also review the progress made in the Centre's 'water for all' scheme.

The meeting would discuss what all new initiatives are needed to make the two schemes a success. This was followed by a letter from Satyabrata Sahu, a joint secretary in the in the ministry of drinking water and sanitation (MDWS), to all states and UTs, underlining how the access to safe and adequate drinking water was key to the success of Swachh Bharat.

Saraswati Prasad, an additional secretary in the MDWS, has also sent in a missive, saying the minister would hold the daylong meet that would, among other things, look to adopt best practices from across the country.

Losing sheen

Modi wielded the broom in Delhi 15 months ago to launch the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, fuelling hopes of cleaner public places, better waste management and eradication of open defecation in villages by 2019. While toilet building has picked up pace, and the prime minister has been able to nudge people into caring for hygiene, many believe the initial enthusiasm has been waning.

As for water, a person does not get the minimum 40 litres of safe drinking water a day in about 25 per cent of the total 17,13,003 habitations in the country.

A total of 3,60,415 habitations are partially covered.

Groundwater contamination is a serious public health crisis, particularly in rural pockets, affecting over 3.61 crore people in 63,831 pockets across half of India's districts.

The government aims to cover 90 per cent of the rural population through piped supply schemes by 2022.